JAC T9 First Drive

New Zealanders have yet another double-cab ute to choose from with the imminent arrival of the JAC T9. This will soon be available as a single highly specified model. It goes on sale first thing in 2025 and has a sticker price beginning with a four. Plus on roads of course which takes it to something starting with a five. But when the rivals start with a six then this is a newcomer you have to take seriously. 

“Like its no-nonsense name, the price is pretty straight-up too,” says JAC General Manager, Andrew Craw. He describes it as a JAC of all trades, which is kind of cheesy but not far from the mark.

“Targeted at the Kiwi tradie market it’s fair to say this JAC is stacked with features and extras. So you’d be hard pressed to find another ute offering more bang for buck given all the tech and specs stacked in the T9 at its launch price of just $49,990 including GST.” Tradies will maybe like the fact that there’s a compartment that can keep a pie warm or chill a tinny or three.

JAC (pronounced Jack but actually short for Jianghuai Automobile Co) isn’t a newcomer as such because its trucks have been on sale here for some time. And in fact the company is now roughly 60 years old. It has already built and sold more than 320,000 utes in South American and Asian markets, along with South Africa and Australia. 

While it will be a new name to many there’s already a nationwide dealer network. Service support is available through the Southpac group, while the Colonial Motor Company has nine new JAC dealers. 

There’s good factory back up too, as the JAC T9 carries a five-year/200,000km warranty. And on the subject of fives, it recently came through the ANCAP crash testing regime with the top five-star rating. 

It has just about every conceivable active driver assist system (ADAS; 18 in total, all with three-letter acronyms). However, unlike some, it doesn’t bong at you incessantly. And when it does you can turn off the offending system, like driver distraction, for instance, or overspeed warning. And you can cancel all the tugs from the lane keeping gizmos; they actually turn off fully.

So what is the T9 exactly? 

It’s another double-cab part time 4wd ute that can do the off-road stuff as well as the on-road. Moreover, JAC has been doing its own testing here, sending feedback to JAC HQ. T9 features a 2.0L turbodiesel engine mated to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission. Power and torque are hardly top of the heap at 125kW and 410Nm but with an eight-speed auto that’s not really an issue, especially as some rivals only have six gears. Overall WLTP fuel consumption is a claimed 7.6L/100km and the T9 can tow braked loads of up to 3.0 tonnes. The payload for the wellside is 1045kg. 

Craw says “It’s a workhorse, not a show pony.” There’s 4H and 4L for off-roading, along with a diff lock, and several drive modes (Eco, Sport, Snow). 

No alternative powertrain is available for New Zealand, at least in the foreseeable future. Overseas there’s a PHEV with 100km of range, and an electric version pending.

Other standard features include rock slider side steps, a black sports bar, heated leather-like seats that are power adjustable, and wireless phone charging. There’s also a 220V power point in the back for charging power tool batteries.

The ute parts come from trusted big name manufacturers in the business, such as Bosch, Honeywell, BorgWarner and Eaton.

How did we find it?

First off, it looks the part with a purposeful front end, interesting tail and nice additions like the sports bar and running boards; they’d normally be a cost option on most other rivals.

A brief introductory drive in town and on the motorway proved it’s very, er, ute like. It might be 5.3m long but doesn’t feel oversized in traffic, not that we tried any tricky parking manoeuvres. There’s a 360 degree camera to help though. The ride is about line ball for the leaf spring, solid axle genre.

Its engine feels strong enough at low revs, the full tally of torques available from 1500rpm. Fuel use registered low nines. Its eight-speeder responds well. Brakes felt a little touchy but then the vehicle was quite new.

The interior has a fair number of what seem like hard plastics but most actually have some resilience. The upholstery (artificial leather) and seats we found fine. There’s no lumbar adjustment but it seems to have enough of that as is. Instruments are arguably a little dated but there’s a choice of two different screen looks. In neither could we detect traffic sign recognition but evidently there’s a software update coming for that. There are plenty of hard buttons to make life simpler, for the HVAC settings, for instance.

About the only major feature it doesn’t have is a telescopic steering column. And it’s not a tricky vehicle to run, as some modern vehicles tend to be. The tray is accessed by an undamped tailgate but can evidently accommodate a Euro pallet.

Where can you buy a JAC T9 in NZ? 

The new JAC dealer sites via Colonial Motor Group include New Plymouth, Pukekohe, Masterton, Lower Hutt, Kapiti, Timaru, Dunedin, Invercargill and Queenstown. JAC’s existing dealerships are in Manukau and Christchurch.

First deliveries are expected in February.